The German-Turkish Co-production Development Fund

Applications are now open for the "Germany-Turkey Co-Production Development Fund," 

Turkish Cinema never widely captured film market unless a well-connected European distributer has the rights or proven auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan makes his next film.

Turkish films are rarely present in ‘Main Competition Selection’ of major film festivals save second-tier competition programs for first films or up and coming talent mainly catering to Art House audiences usually produced with multi country co-productions.

Opportunities are limited for making films that appeal to festival programmers. The support provided by the Ministry of Culture to the cinema industry nearly doubled in 2024, only reaching 2.4 million US dollars divided between 22 projects in feature, co-production and post-production. It is a small amount at par with Nasreddin Hodja adding yeast into a lake hoping to make yogurt. However, there are other small and successful funds with a proven record.

Application Deadline Announced

Applications are now open for The Germany-Turkey Co-Production Development Fund, established in 2011 by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), with the support of Anadolu Efes, as part of the Istanbul Film Festival, in collaboration with Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Film Fund, will be held for the 15th time this year. The fund, launched to support feature-length co-production projects between Germany and Turkey, is open to all feature-length German Turkish co-productions that have not yet begun filming. 

The fund aims to support feature-length co-productions and cultural exchange between the two countries. This fund is still a valuable resource for encouraging new voices and expanding the boundaries of international co-productions. The fund is small and has provided only a total of €1,096,000 in support until this year in total to bring original cinematic stories to the screen.

The rules and regulations of the "Germany-Turkey Co-Production Development Fund and Application form are available for the 2025 cycle. And questions can be sent to: onthebridge@iksv.org 

A Fund with Results

No matter how small, the fund’s financial support for of the 67 films gained a place and recognition by premiering at festivals such as:

Kız Kardeşler (Sisters) (Emin Alper) Berlinale Main Competition. 
The Album (Mehmetcan Mertoğlu) Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week. 
Ansızın (Aslı Özge) Berlinale Panorama. 
Until My Breath Stops (Emine Emel Balcı) Berlinale the Forum. 
The Blue Bicycle (Ümit Köreken) Berlinale Generation
Sesime Gel (Hüseyin Karabey) Berlinale Generation. 
My Father's Wings (Kivanç Sezer) Karlovy Vary Film Festival Main Competition. 
Kardeşler (Ömür Atay) Karlovy Vary Film Festival Main Competition. 
Bir Nefes Daha (Nisan Dağ) Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. 
Zuhal (Nazlı Elif Durlu) Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. 
Les Enfants Teribles (Ahmet Necdet Cupur) Visions du Reel. 
Ela and Hilmi and Ali (Ziya Demirel) the Istanbul Film Festival winning four awards, 
Snow and the Bear  (Selcen Ergun) Toronto Film Festival
Yurt (Nehir Tuna) Venice Film Festival.